Earnest Wilson went through the 2021 season as the interim head coach at Defiance College (D-III - OH). Two months after the conclusion of the season, the administration promoted him to the head coaching spot and looked forward to years under his guidance getting the program turned around.
He stepped into a difficult situation after former head coach Manny Matsakis was dismissed after an off-the-field incident in late August just ten days before their first game.
Now, Wilson is moving on before coaching in his first game without that interim tag with the Yellow Jackets, per sources.
Sources tell FootballScoop that a search will soon get underway for a new leader of the program as we're told that that Wilson plans to accept a position with the upstart Major League Football.
The new hire will mark the program's third head coach in the past nine months.
Wilson went 1-9 as the team's interim head coach, showing signs of progress as the year went on. That one win was against Mount St. Joseph (D-III - OH), who was undefeated in conference play at the time.
The Defiance program has had a hard time hiring coaches that stick over the past decade. Matsakis was entering his fourth season in charge before being let go, and all things considered, that seemed "stable."
After nearly a decade being led by Rob Taylor, Nate Jensen (now the head coach at Manchester) stepped in to lead the program for a season as their interim head coach in 2011.
Then they turned to Brian Sheehan (now on staff at Minnesota) for a handful of seasons before he ultimately departed the program.
Casey Goff then took over the Yellow Jackets for one season in 2016 before leaving to become the new head coach at The College of New Jersey (D-III).
At that point, offensive coordinator Aaron Mershman was named interim head coach and then head coach (the youngest head coach in the country at the time at 26 years old), and he held the post two seasons before leaving to become an assistant coach at another D-III program.
A short time later, Matsakis was brought in, and he brought in Wilson to serve as his Superbacks coach.
Before joining the Defiance staff, Wilson previously served as the head coach at Savannah State (FCS - GA), where he went 2-32 over three seasons before a two-year stint as the head coach at Elizabeth City State (D-II - NC) where he was 9-11. Wilson has also coached at New Mexico State, Hampton, and Jackson State in addition to the Indoor level and had a stint with The Spring League as well.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.